Chapter 376: 376 It’s Zhuang Liu
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
When Tao Zhi and the others took a taxi back, they happened to bump into Xiao Mo who was driving Zhuang Liu home. Actually, Zhuang Liu had originally gone to pick Tan Rou up from school, but he hadn’t calculated the time well. He had encountered the afternoon rush hour. By the time they arrived at school, everyone in the school had left. Zhuang Liu had no choice but to ask Xiao Mo to drive back home. He had thought of a way to send Tan Rou to school in the afternoon.
“Xiao Rou…” Zhuang Liu rolled down the car window the moment he saw Tan Rou. Xiao Mo also stopped the car and gave him a walking stick.
Tan Rou greeted Zhuang Liu. “Third Brother, you were on the way home too?”
Zhuang Liu didn’t mention picking her up. “Yes, I just came back.” He glanced at Tao Zhi, a young man who looked like Tan Rou. He must be the big brother that Tan Rou mentioned.
“This is my big brother.” Tan Rou noticed Zhuang Liu’s gaze, so she introduced him, “Big Brother, he’s a good friend of mine, Zhuang Liu.”
Unexpectedly, after Tao Zhi heard his name, he looked at Zhuang Liu’s legs and his eyes widened slightly. “Zhuang Liu?”
“What’s wrong?” Tan Rou asked, puzzled.
Tao Zhi pretended that nothing had happened. “It’s nothing. It’s a nice name.”
Zhuang Liu and Tan Rou both felt that Tao Zhi was a little baffled. Why did he compliment Zhuang Liu’s name for no reason? Was he not satisfied with his name? Why would he say that out of the blue?
Zhuang Liu saw them carrying things and said, “Why don’t you get in the car? I’ll give you a ride.”
“No need. There’s only a short distance left. We can just walk back.”
Tan Rou also said, “Third Brother, you should go back for lunch. We can just walk back.”
Zhuang Liu could only give up. “Alright. Do you want me to give you a ride in the afternoon?”
Tan Rou was about to agree to it when Tao Zhi rejected him again. “Second Brother is at home. He can send our sister to school, so we don’t have to trouble Third Young Master Zhuang.”
The hidden meaning in this also meant that Zhuang Liu should not interfere in their family matters.
Zhuang Liu had a strange feeling when he heard how Tao Zhi addressed him in such a manner. Although others also called him ‘Third Young Master’, that was only because they knew his identity. However, this was the first time he and Tao Zhi met, so why would Tao Zhi call him ‘Third Young Master’?
Tan Rou had also noticed this, but she did not say it out loud. Perhaps her brother knew Zhuang Liu. She could also find out a little about their family’s secret from her brother.
Zhuang Liu’s car drove away. Tan Rou took the opportunity to ask Tao Zhi,” “Big brother, why do you call him the ‘Third Young Master’? Did you know him before?”
Tao Zhi suddenly realized what he had done. With his family’s current status, he shouldn’t have known Zhuang Liu. He had said something wrong just now and Zhuang Liu must have realized it as well.
“I don’t know who he is.” Tao Zhi smiled and said, “Didn’t you just call him ‘Third Brother’. I couldn’t call him that, but it was better than to call him by his name, so I called him Third Young Master Zhuang. It sounded more respectful.”
This reason was too far-fetched. A normal person wouldn’t address someone as ‘Third Young Master Zhuang’ or ‘First Young Master Tao’. However, Tan Rou didn’t intend to expose him. “Oh, I see. I thought that our family was some hidden wealthy family and we knew people from those wealthy families like the Zhuang family.”
Tao Zhi’s eyelids twitched. “Aiya, that’s impossible.” He walked forward quickly. “Let’s go back for lunch. Dad and Mom must be waiting anxiously.”
Tan Rou made an expression as if she didn’t know anything. “Alright.”
Tao Zhi sighed in his heart. His mother was really too much. There were so many houses to choose from, but why did she choose to live in the same neighborhood as the Zhuang family? His parents came here early and did not know Zhuang Liu very well. However, Tao Zhi was Zhuang Liu’s classmate once, even though Zhuang Liu did not remember him.
The Tao family’s parents had moved here a long time ago, but Tao Zhi, as the eldest son, stayed with his grandparents in the Capital. By then, when he was studying in the Capital, he might not have heard much but he had heard stories of the Zhuang family’s prodigy, Zhuang Liu.
Tao Zhi and Zhuang Liu studied in the same school. At that time, their family was very low-key, and almost no one knew him in school. However, Zhuang Liu was different. The third young master of the Zhuang family in the capital was a once-in-a-century prodigy. He jumped from the second grade to the third grade, and from the fifth grade to the sixth grade. The honor roll was full of Zhuang Liu’s name.
Later, when Tao Zhi was in junior high school, he happened to meet Zhuang Liu who skipped a grade to junior high school. Once Zhuang Liu entered senior high school, they no longer had the chance to meet..